4 people injured in Kashmir grenade blast

By Nusrat Sidiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - At least four people were injured, including a woman, when suspected militants attempted a grenade attack on Indian paramilitary soldiers in Srinagar, the capital city of Indian-administered Kashmir, on Saturday evening, regional police said.

They said the militants threw the grenade at a paramilitary picket in the city's Barbarshah area, but it exploded on the roadside, injuring four people, including a non-local woman from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

"The injured have been shifted to the hospital, while the area has been cordoned off to arrest the attackers," police sources said.

Political analysts say grenade attacks in the region have escalated in recent years, particularly in urban areas.

A few weeks ago, nine people were injured in a grenade attack in the southern Pulwama district when suspected militants lobbed a grenade at paramilitary forces stationed near Tral bus terminal.

- Disputed region

Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965, and 1971 -- with two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.